CUBA: Observations On Fidel Castro's Return To Public Life.

WASHPOST/ YOANI SANCHEZ/ OPINION/  Noted dissident blogger writes about how Fidel watchers in Cuba now see him: as an unpredictable, dottering old man, stripped of charisma.

SANCHEZ:  "Fidel Castro's return to public life after a four-year absence provokes conflicting emotions here. His reappearance surprised a people awaiting, with growing despair, the reforms announced by his brother Raúl. While some weave fantasies around his return, others are anxious about what will happen next.
The return of a famous figure is a familiar theme in life as in fiction -- think Don Quixote, Casanova or Juan Domingo Perón. But another familiar theme is disappointment -- of those who find that the person who returns is no longer the person who left, or at least not as we remember him. There is often a sense of despair surrounding those who insist on coming back. Fidel Castro is no exception to this flaw inherent in remakes. "